Chick-fil-A takes heat for franchise sponsorship of LGBT film festival

Three years after evangelical Christians designated a day to eat more chicken in support of Chick-fil-A’s defense of traditional marriage, the Southern Baptist-owned fast food chain is taking heat online for sponsoring what is billed as the world’s first faith-based LGBT film festival.

Just hours after the article went live, a spokesperson for the Southern Baptist, family-owned fast food chain swiftly issued a clarification, telling Eater Chick-fil-A itself was never a sponsor of "Level Ground." The actual sponsor is a franchise owner in Nashville. A similar case happened last November when a Hollywood franchise donated 20 percent of its one-day proceeds to the LGBT student group, Campus Pride.

A Chick-fil-A representative told Eater, “The operators make decisions on local sponsorships."

One difference, however. The film festival in question was in Nashville, headquarters of the Southern Baptist Convention. And an SBC researcher participated.